I like the look of the FANATEC's, the specs read nice and look the goods, but from some of the things I've read around here, they can be a bit hit or miss with quality control and the customer service sounds less than impressive. Price is also fairly high, for me, so on the weight of those points, it would seem FANATEC are out.

The MS wheel with ffb is more the way I'm leaning for now. I've seen some mods that can be done quick and easy (brake pedal springs swap, bearings on steering column) which look easy as falling off a bike. I know they are discontinued, but they are still floating around on Ebay at a reasonable price.

The new MS "wheel" sort of has me interested, but it looks like a gimic. I understand the ergonomics of it, but it falls short by not offering pedalls. I may as well stick to the standard controller.

I read somewhere the LOGITECH g27 may be able to be converted to the 360?? Anyone done it, and if so, is it viable/worth while doing?

Whichever way I go, I'm looking for first and foremost, good smooth control, not something that goes from zero throttle to half throttle with very little pedal movement, something with good calibration ajustability.

I don't know if such a set-up exists, I've been out of the gaming world for a bit, just re-entering after being tied up with those pesky little time-needy babies....starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel and getting some daddy time now

I actually just got my Fanatec GT2 wheel (with standard pedals and shifters) last night. I replaced a Microsoft Wheel with it. I currently have a playseat which works wonderfully with the Fanatec wheel.

All I can tell you is that after going to a Fanatec wheel, my Microsoft wheel feels so "toy-like" now. Not to say it didn't serve it's purpose. For the 360, the Microsoft wheel is by far the best value since there's nothing else out there that offers force feedback at an affordable price (although they are selling for hundreds new!)

I've heard good and bad in regards to the G27/G25 converter. I think you'll want to do ALOT of research prior to buying that and in the end, you'll pay nearly as much as you would for a GT2 wheel with standard pedals. The one thing that scares me a bit about going this route is that you won't be able to get any support from Logitech.

In the end, I strongly suggest getting the GT2, however, if price is of utmost concern, the Microsoft Wheel will suffice in the interim. Just don't expect anything spectacular as it truly is a toy and not a sim wheel. Also, NEVER underestimate (or underprice) the ability to change wheel settings on the fly. This is the single most amazing feature of the Fanatec Wheels.

I'll give my vote to Fanatec. When reading negative comments online remember one simple fact of life and thats unhappy users will take the time to complain and post complaints wherever they can online where as generally happy customers don't post. I pre-ordered the Porsche Turbo S and on the run up to that release Fanatec's sales people answered my numerous product and shipment questions normally within 24 hours and never more than 36. Unfortunately my first wheel developed a fault and so I emailed their tech support with a detailed description of the problem and within 30 minutes of emailing them I had an email back asking to confirm my home address as they would send out a replacement immediately without waiting for my wheel to be returned. I received my replacement in just a few days and was back up and racing. I may have just been unlucky and as with many consumer electronic devices had a bad unit but this new wheel has lasted me well for the last few years and seen me through every iRacing event here at RD and many online Forza 3 battles as well as a large number of GT5 races and hot laps. The Clubsport pedals are incredible and have never let me down.

They are good! They do suffer from reliability issues more than Logitech, but still not that bad, and although some people complain about SLOW customer care, EVERYONE does get sorted I know for a fact that Thomas (Fanatecs CEO) is working very hard on a new Customer support system and this should finally sort the issues and is working hard to improve build quality too. They also have some really good support people such as ReDi who frequents the forums here

Thanx gents, a clearer picture is starting to form....
I'm still open to the idea of the FANATEC GT2, but $800+ australia dollars tends to pucker ones rear end up a bit...
I'm leaning more towards the MS unit and doing some work on it. Slightly off topic question: the FFB motor in it, has anyone tried swapping it out for something with some more guts to it? Coming from an RC background, the mabuchi 550 is around 27turn from memory I think, changing to something like 55turn lathe motor, which are cheap as chips, SHOULD give more power. It should run on the same amount of power too.
Other option is to leave the motor alone and change the gearing for more torque.
Thoughts??

Interesting ideas and all possible, but the MS wheel really is a toy compared to Fanatec/logitech wheels, I think it would be alot of work and money for little if any real gain. FFB is a funny thing, sure power is important, but it boils down to how the electronics 'read the data' and also latency, not to mention the quality of the data sent by the game! The MS xbox system is very different also, tbh its more of a 'game effect' than real FFB. Out of the 3 (PC, PS3 and XBOX) the Xbox is the least realistic FFB

Thanx gents, a clearer picture is starting to form....
I'm still open to the idea of the FANATEC GT2, but $800+ australia dollars tends to pucker ones rear end up a bit...
I'm leaning more towards the MS unit and doing some work on it. Slightly off topic question: the FFB motor in it, has anyone tried swapping it out for something with some more guts to it? Coming from an RC background, the mabuchi 550 is around 27turn from memory I think, changing to something like 55turn lathe motor, which are cheap as chips, SHOULD give more power. It should run on the same amount of power too.
Other option is to leave the motor alone and change the gearing for more torque.
Thoughts??

righto then....spirits officially dampened:damnit:
what with inflation these days, the refund given by the tooth fairy should almost cover the cost of the FANATEC when the kids teeth start falling out, either that or I start working the streets.....
my quest of a cockpit with wheel shall prevail.....

I personally think the old Xbox360 wheel is not that bad at all. I used it while waiting for my fanatec wheel and really enjoyed it. Compared to wheels trice the amount of money the wheel is always going to look bad, but i thoroughly enjoyed the wheel. I didnt use the standard pedals though, i made a connector to use the G25 pedals.